Mandarin is an ancient and important language, and the benefits of learning it these days are numerous. Figuring out this language, however, is not very easy, chiefly because of the fact that it doesn't have a phonetic alphabet. Do not be concerned. I have lived, and learned, in China for several years, and I am going to share some information that will help you achieve your Chinese language learning desired goals. In order to be successful at learning Mandarin Mandarin you must follow these three very important steps.
Step 1: Learning Pinyin
What is Pinyin? As I mentioned previously, Chinese characters, in general, aren't phonetic, which means they've got no sounds assigned to them. Instead, they are pictographs, symbols that represent unique thoughts and ideas. These pictographs work well for communicating visually, through reading and writing. For instance, if I draw a stick figure in the shape of the human form, we can both view it and realize that I'm communicating something about a person. The trouble occurs when people from completely different geographical territories assemble and attempt to communicate verbally.
Why is there a problem? Because in my community people may see the aforementioned stick figure and pronounce it "person." In your community, on the other hand, people may see the exact same figure and pronounce it "potato," which makes it very difficult for us to communicate verbally. Pinyin was developed to fix this problem, and it is the only way for you to discover how to accurately pronounce words in Mandarin Chinese. Therefore, before studying how to read, write or pronounce Chinese characters, you have to learn pinyin.
Step 2: Learning how to Communicate Verbally
Once you fully grasp pinyin, you need to use it, along with a native Chinese speaker, to learn how to correctly pronounce Chinese, including mastering Chinese tones. I know, you don't have enough time to head off to The far east and study with a native Chinese person. Do not worry. There are quite a few software packages and online courses out there that have recordings made by Chinese speakers.
You have got to use these courses. It is extremely difficult to know how to pronounce Chinese tones without listening to them spoken by a native Chinese speaker. How essential is it to get the tones correct? A lot of Chinese words have four completely different definitions, each of which is expressed by a change of tone. Unless you master your tones, you won't have the ability to converse effectively using the Chinese language.
Step 3: Taking on Chinese Characters
Once you've perfected pinyin, you can proceed to learning Chinese characters. Why should you do this last? Because when you memorize the meaning of a Chinese character, you will naturally assign a sound to it. Of course, at first, you will simply translate the meaning directly into your own native language. As you improve, though, you will want to develop the ability to "hear" the proper sound, in Chinese, in your mind. On top of that, if you plan on utilizing your ability to read Chinese characters in a realistic environment, in a restaurant, for instance, you'll have to have the ability to pronounce them correctly, and the only way to do that is to first master pinyin and pronunciation.
Final Thoughts
Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world, and, with the economic and political rise of Mainland China, learning the language has many practical benefits. Sure, it's a rather difficult language to learn, but if you follow the three steps layed out above, your improvement will be swift and painless.
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